As dusk settled on a Nicaraguan
village, the last yawning rays of
light illuminated three figures
hard at work in a corrugatedmetal
shed: a Dartmouth doctor,
a Nicaraguan patient, and Eric
Wang, then a Dartmouth College
senior. It had been a very
long day for Wang, who was
learning how, among other
things, to identify eye cancer and
to sensitively inform a patient
of the affliction.

Wang was one of nine Dartmouth
undergraduates who traveled
last winter to Siuna, Nicaragua,
with two Dartmouth doctors
William Young, M.D., and
John Richardson, M.D.and
two members of the DMS Class
of '02Amy Vinther and Jenny
Noon. In two weeks, the group
provided preventive and acute
care to over 700 patients.

Dartmouth undergraduates Joel Wickre
(above, left) and John Myers (above,
center) worked in Nicaragua with the
DMS students on the left: Jennifer
Noon (left) and Amy Vinther (right).

Service: The visit was the first
project of the Dartmouth-wide
Cross-Cultural Education and
Service Program. The program
brings together resources from
Dartmouth's professional schools
to give students and faculty an
opportunity to apply their academic
knowledge to service in a
developing country. In addition,
it gives undergrads a chance to
work with students and faculty
from the graduate schools.

Nearly every undergraduate
on the trip spent a day assisting
Young, an associate professor of
obstetrics and gynecology. He
recalls that "the experience was
insightful for many and uncomfortable
for some, as they worked
in tight confrontation with
women's health problems prevalent
in a developing country.

"At the same time," Young
adds, the undergraduates "matured
by working in the presence
of a patient and doctor and developed
an appreciation for the
medical and social problems
these women experience."

For example, the students observed
women turning down a
chance to be screened for cervical
cancer because they thought
it would cost an extra $3.00
until they learned that the team
was funding the test.

The Dartmouth group also
held two days of classes for 20
Nicaraguan midwives. "We all
did a lot of listening," recalls
Young. "Their stories were wonderful
to hear."

Joel Wickre, then a junior,
was a translator for the classes.
He was so moved by Siuna's desperate
need for clean water that
he returned there in the spring
to do an epidemiological study of
the town's water system.

Drew Crapser, a senior, found
the one-on-one conversations
with the doctors and the medical
students especially rewarding.
"The free afternoon I spent with
Amy Vinther stands out in my
mind. During that afternoon, she
shared with me why she decided
to pursue medicine, and I've held
that as one of my most meaningful
experiences of the trip."

Junior John Myers, who had
long planned to become a doctor
and spend some time each
year in a developing country,
credits the trip with cementing
this goal. "Talking with the medical
students, I found that they
were figuring out just as much as
I was if they wanted to practice
this type of medicine as part of
their life's work," he recalls.

The undergraduates were also
impressed with how much the
medical students could dotake
patient histories, suggest treatment
options, and even perform
minor surgical procedures.

Clinics: "I was intrigued that after
a few years of medical school,
Amy and Jenny were able to sit
in the doctor's seat and direct the
work in the clinics," says Myers.
"To see that they could do that
after just a few years in medical
school made me much more confident
that I wanted to attend
medical school immediately
rather than wait."

The medical students "were
great with patients," says Wang,
"but equally excited to empower
undergrads to work with the patients
ourselves. It struck me
that, even in the midst of absences
of clean water and microscopes,
the doctors were going
out of their way to teach us.
They really modeled the positivity
of being a doctor through
their openness, care, and compassion."

Premeds sometimes wonder
how much weight to give to tales
of overworked American doctors
and abstruse HMO policies.
"Nicaragua avowed the humanness
of this profession to me,"
says Wang. "Our doctors truly
enjoyed what they were doing
and were willing to share with us
because of that enjoyment.

"More than anything else,"
he adds, "I learned there is hope
in this job, and yet that medicine
is more than just a job. I learned
that one can serve as a role model
in this profession through
sharing one's own passions and
encouraging those of another."

Adam Tanney

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